2002 Baseball

Sarasota Spring Classic

Buckingham, Pickthorn named to All-Tournament team at EMU-Sarasota

March 11, 2002

Bluffton College senior baseball players Brad Buckingham (Geneva, Ind./South Adams) and Todd Pickthorn (Miamisburg) were both named to the All-Tournament Team of the EMU-Sarasota Spring
Classic following last week's eight-game event in Sarasota, Fla.

Bluffton came out strong in nearly every game and were either leading or tied after
three innings in five of their eight games, but BC came up a bit short in the later
innings to fall to 0-8 in the Classic. This marked the sixth consecutive year that
the Beavers have begun their season in Sarasota.

Bluffton will host three games at Sears Field this weekend, beginning on Friday at
3 p.m. when Adrian College (Mich.) comes to town for a nine-inning game. BC will host
Oberlin College on Saturday for a double-header beginning at 1 p.m.

Buckingham, Bluffton's centerfielder, led BC with a .375 batting average during the
week with six hits in 16 at bats. He also led the team in walks with five and on base
percentage (.538), and his five RBIs were second-most on the squad. This marks the
third time that Buckingham has been named to the Classic's all-star squad.

Pickthorn started all eight games at shortstop for the Beavers and smacked a team-high
10 hits in 27 at bats for a .370 average. He also led BC with two doubles and notched
19 assists in the field. Pickthorn was also named to the all-tournament team as a
sophomore.

Host school Eastern Mennonite University won the Classic with a 7-1 record, marking
their fourth tournament championship in the six years of the event. Also participating
were Moravian College (4-4) and Juniata College (5-3), both from Pennsylvania, along
with Ohio teams Bluffton College (0-8) and Kenyon College (4-4).